Anzio (Lazio): what to see


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What to see in Anzio, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including Villa Borghese, Casino Paradiso sul mare, archaeological museum, landing museum and beach of Nero's caves.


Tourist information

Located in the Agro Romano, or that vast rural area extended around the city of Rome where stretches of plains alternate with hills, Anzio is positioned on the homonymous promontory reaching out towards the Tyrrhenian Sea.

In ancient times Antium, which corresponded to today's Anzio and Nettuno, played for many years the role of capital for the population of the Volsci, until it was incorporated into the Roman state.


A significant portion of the city of Antium was located on the hill corresponding to that occupied today by the provincial natural reserve of Villa Borghese, a private property located in the center of the city of Neptune and included in the territory of the metropolitan city of Rome Capital, declared a protected natural area in 1999.

This reserve constitutes the only green area in the city, which includes the park of the Villa, built at the behest of Cardinal Costaguti in 1674, and the villa itself, whose name derives from the surname of the most illustrious owner, namely the Borghese family.

Starting from the second half of the nineteenth century, Anzio experienced a strong urban development that allowed it to detach itself from Neptune and to become a famous seaside resort.


In the same period some of the remarkable residential villas were also built.

In 1924 the Casino was born, usually called Paradiso sul mare, an Art Nouveau building that has maintained the beauty of that time and where Fellini shot some scenes of Amarcord and Deaf some interiors of the film Polvere di stelle.

What see

In the historic center of Anzio, the ancient parish church deserves to be visited, as well as the Civic and Archaeological Museum, where archaeological finds that have come to light in the surrounding area are preserved.


This museum is located on the ground floor of the seventeenth-century Villa Pamphilj, later enlarged and become municipal property together with the garden that surrounds it.

The remains of the Villa of Nero are very interesting, a grandiose imperial style villa which, located on the coast and about eighty meters wide, stretched from Capo d’Anzio to Capo dell’Arco Muto.

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In a niche of the Imperial Villa the Maiden of Anzio was discovered, a very particular statue now preserved in the National Roman Museum.

Villa Adele was the first villa built in Anzio in the early 1700s by Monsignor Bartolomeo Cesi, who had been commissioned by Pope Clement VIII.

The villa, built following the typical style of the Cesi family, was purchased by Federico Monchese di Montecelio, first Duke of Acqua Sparta.

The current name, Adele, derives from that of the wife of Francesco Borghese, who became the new owner from 1834.

It was the Borghese who created the Sala delle Conchiglie, a true jewel of art and architecture in liberty style.

The Anzio landing museum, inaugurated on 22 January 1994 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the landing of Anzio, is housed in one of the rooms of the seventeenth-century Villa Adele, located near the railway station and the city center.

The museum is divided into the four American, English, German and Italian sections.


Uniforms, weapons, decorations, documents, battle plans, photos of veterans and everyday objects are shown in the windows and notice boards.

The Grotte di Nerone beach is part of the archaeological area which includes the Villa di Nerone and the port of Anzio, built by Nero himself, of which the warehouse area is known as the Grotte di Nerone.

The port of Anzio is one of the main city attractions, very important as regards the fish trade and where there are shops, restaurants, ice cream parlors and bars that contribute to creating a very suggestive atmosphere.

In the vicinity of the Tor Caldara Nature Reserve, which includes a large area of ​​land covered by a dense coastal forest, there is the Tor Caldara, dating back to the sixteenth century and built with coastal surveillance functions.

The Church of Santa Teresa, dating back to 1939 and elevated to a basilica in 1963, is a monumental construction located on the site where previously a chapel dedicated to Santa Teresina di Lisieux once stood.

The interior is in Gothic Romanesque style with three naves with a gallery, transept and floor with colored marble, from Villa Spigarelli.


In the Chapel of the Relics some relics of the saint are preserved, while under the altar there is the statue depicting the saint on her death bed, intent on leafing through a rose with her hand.

Outside there is a bell tower 43 meters high, with a quadrangular base dedicated to the fallen in the battle of Anzio which took place in 1944.

"ANZIO" Top 13 Tourist Places | Anzio Tourism | ITALY (March 2024)


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